Hayden Meadows fields to become houses

HAYDEN — A housing development is planned for the 10-acre parcel behind Hayden Meadows Elementary School.

Principal engineer Ryne Stoker, who, with business partner Tim Metcalf, bought the property from the Coeur d'Alene School District for $1,525,255 as Kulka Land/Ryne C. Stoker Separate Property Trust, said the subdivision will be consistent with the houses already in the area.

"It will be compliant with normal zoning," Stoker said Thursday.

The sale was finalized Oct. 5 by the Coeur d'Alene School Board. Kulka Land/Ryne C. Stoker Separate Property Trust closed on the property Thursday.

The project is in preliminary stages with only the property sale finalized at this time.

The site is expected to be developed with craftsman- and mission-style homes on larger lots, many with shops. Stoker said they'll probably be about 3 to 3-and-a-half units per acre.

"They’ll be nice quality houses," Stoker said. "We won’t let them build anything of inferior quality on it."

He said the developers have been asked to work with the city of Hayden to install an oversized sewer line to add capacity and accommodate future projects in that area.

The project may expand if neighboring landowners accept offers from the developers.

"Until they decide to sell, there’s nothing firmed up yet," Stoker said. "It would make it larger than it is now. Until there’s commitments, we don’t know what it would be. It may be nothing; it may be something larger.

"We have a preliminary layout and we will present it to the landowners to see if they're interested in selling their land," he continued. "Once we have a deal, then we’ll have something we can submit to the city."

The parcel, known as the Hayden Meadows Soccer Complex, has been used by local youth soccer teams for many years.

Stoker said the soccer kids will continue to have use of the land through the spring, allowing one last Hot Shot Tournament to take place on the site in May.

"They’ll be able to use it until June or July," Stoker said. "The city had mentioned that they were going to help them find a transitional field to use, but this will buy everybody more time."

Irrigation equipment and sod from the fields will be able to be dug up and repurposed, potentially at the next soccer site, Stoker said.

Melissa Cleveland, Hayden's community development director, said the city has opportunities for other soccer sites, including possibly at Croffoot Park on Lancaster Road.

"The next steps are going to be to get together the city and the soccer clubs and see if there's an opportunity to partner on some soccer fields," she said. "There very well may be. It's just very preliminary."

She said the city has not received an official submittal regarding plans for the Hayden Meadows fields, but initial conversations have revealed plans for traditional, single-family home development.

"What we’ve seen as far as what we think they're going to propose is in line with the existing comprehensive plan. It's in line with the draft comprehensive plan we have out now for community review. It just seems very in line with the vision of that area.

"There’s nothing about it that's different from what we’ve anticipated for that area," she continued. "It sure would have been nice for it to stay as a recreation area. I can't blame the school (district) for selling it when they can get such a nice price out of it."